I am currently living in Germany, using a one-year working holiday visa. When that expires, I hope to move to another European country, and continue this pattern of moving countries for as long as I'm eligible for visas.

I know that without a visa, as an Australian I can only stay in the Schengen area for 90 days out of every 180.

Is it going to be fine to apply for a Schengen visa (probably another 1-year working holiday) visa for another country, immediately consecutive to my current visa - i.e. starting the day my current one ends?

When my visa here expires, do I need to leave the country immediately, or can I stay for up to 90 days before leaving?

So you will apply for a Schengen visa giving the authority your passport with a Schengen visa already in it. Unless the consulate worker will choose to ignore it you won't get another one.
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KarlsonApr 20 '12 at 16:21

@Karlson, if you have a Schengen visa, can you not apply for another (in another country)? That sounds like an answer to what I am asking, and worried about.
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David MApr 21 '12 at 5:54

You can certainly apply but since visa is the same for all of those countries...
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KarlsonApr 21 '12 at 13:36

"..."? I hate to sound stupid, but I don't know what goes after that ellipsis. Is it not normal / possible / legal to have two working holiday / Schengen visas one after the other? Although it gives access to all countries in the zone, it's issued by a specific country, isn't it?
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David MApr 21 '12 at 21:46

1

Common sense? Please don't be patronising, @Karlson. I wouldn't have asked if I already knew. So what you're saying, after all that, is that no two Schengen-zone countries can give a visa in succession to each other? Could you link to that please? I am (obviously) not aware that's the case.
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David MApr 22 '12 at 22:18

Applying for a work-holiday visa from another country should also be no problem, at least as far as Schengen regulations are concerned. The basic principle is that long-stay visas are still national matters, not subject to the Schengen-wide restrictions on short stay (“Schengen visa” is a bit of a misnomer in this case, there are major differences between Schengen uniform short-stay visas and national long-term visas from Schengen countries).

If you are eligible under local law, a Schengen member state can certainly grant you a national visa starting immediately after another long-term national visa (from the same country or from another Schengen country). One thing you need to be mindful of is that it's sometimes impossible to apply for a long-stay visa from within the country (even if you would otherwise qualify for the visa) but some countries do allow it.

Importantly, none of this is true for short-stay visas (Schengen uniform type C visas) or, for Australian citizens, to visa-free short stays. In that case, the 90-day rule applies and it applies to you as a person. Getting another short-stay visa or using another passport does not entitle you to another 90 days in the Schengen area.

Finally, there is one last legal way to stay a bit longer in the Schengen area after having exhausted all work-holiday visas and visa-free short stays using prior bilateral agreements between Australia and specific Schengen member states. In particular, you should be able to get another 90 days in Denmark if your previous 90 days were spent elsewhere and possibly to stay longer in Germany as well.